


Everybody Knows But Us

by author_abz



Category: Best Friends Whenever (TV)
Genre: Betting, F/F, M/M, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-27
Updated: 2015-11-27
Packaged: 2018-05-03 14:33:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5294912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/author_abz/pseuds/author_abz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a bet going on at school about when Barry and Naldo will finally get together. So Cyd and Shelby put in their wager.</p><p>"Worst case scenario we time travel to figure it out.”<br/>“Cyd, that’s cheating.”<br/>“Then let’s figure it out without asking them.”<br/>“Because that’s also cheating.”<br/>“And just really awkward.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Everybody Knows But Us

**Author's Note:**

> This idea is from Emili (itsemili) as we were brainstorming fic ideas because I wanted to write SOMETHING Barry/Naldo because I was out here all alone, DYING, DEPRIVED of what should be the easiest thing ever to find or to write and so... this idea killed me. And I had to write it. I wanted something short to be done with quickly, but this idea was just too good for that. Also I wanted to get it out before the (official) airing of Cyd and Shelby Strike Back. So I am!
> 
> There was no beta on this one, so any and all mistakes are mine.
> 
> Enjoy!

“C’mon Cyd, we need to get to class!” Shelby tries to complain, trailing behind her best friend.

She ignores her, walking up to a lanky boy sitting in the corner of the Commons, a leather notebook in his hand. ‘Hey Slim.”

“Hey Cyd.” He grins up at her, oozing charm. Shelby winces. “Want to know the odds of you versus the vending machine?”

She scowls at him before saying, “ _No_ , tell me what good stuff you’ve got - where’s the big money?”

“ _Cyd_ ,” Shelby whines, tugging on her arm.

Slim smiles and flips to the back of his notebook. “Big money? Well yesterday that was the Homecoming game - but there _is_ a secret one - and the pot just passed four hundred.”

“ _Dollars_ ?” Shelby says in disbelief.

A second later Cyd shoves a twenty dollar bill in Slim’s face. “I’m in!”

He slips the money discreetly away and puts a pen to his paper. “So, what date should I put you down for?”

“For what?” Cyd asks, still happily putting her wallet away.

“When Barry and Naldo get together.”

“Get together to do what?” Shelby asks.

“Get together as official boyfriends.” He looks up at Shelby’s confused face and adds, “Don’t worry - I’ve got specific criteria set up for what counts as officially boyfriends.” He turns back to Cyd then even as Shelby’s staring with her mouth wide open. “So when do you want to put your money on?” Cyd looks kind of blankly at him and he keeps talking. “I’ve got some standard dates if you want - Homecoming, Prom, Christmas, birthdays, Valentine’s Day - you know, if you don’t have a specific date.”

“Pencil me in for Valentine’s Day - Naldo’s a romantic sap -” Cyd says. “But can I get that twelve hour deal to finalize my answer?” 

“Sure thing, sweetie.” Slim says before winking at her and walking away - notebook hidden away in a flash.

Shelby and Cyd stand in the corner of the Commons, stony, thoughtful expressions on their faces until someone randomly walks through the space between them.

“Cyd.” Shelby starts, walking to her side to whisper. “People are betting on Barry and Naldo?!”

She shrugs. “I guess so. A lot of people must think it’s a guarantee if they’re betting on times.”

“And we don’t even know if they’re gay!”

“Or bisexual.”

“Or pansexual!”

“Exactly!”

“Do we not pay attention?” Shelby asks, worried. “Are we terrible friends? Does the rest of school know our best friends better than we do?”

“Shelby, calm down.” Cyd takes her arm and leads her toward their class, speaking softly and slowly. “We’ll pay attention today, come up with a better date, and worst case scenario we time travel to figure it out.”

“Cyd, that’s cheating.”

“Then let’s figure it out without asking them.”

“Because that’s also cheating.”

“And just really awkward.” Cyd wrinkles her nose, disappearing into the classroom, Shelby on her heels.

 

* * *

 

“Please stop making that face.”

“You can’t see my face,” Shelby says, throwing a pillow at Cyd lying facedown on her bed.

“You’ve been making the same face for the past three hours!”

“I know!” She wails, “But Barry and Naldo are so cute together and like each other so much! Did you see the way Barry looked at Naldo in Chemistry?”

“Did you see the way Naldo looked at Barry at lunch?”

They both moan and wail, covering their faces.

“Okay,” Cyd says, sitting up. “So Barry and Naldo _have_ to get together.”

“A hundred percent.”

“Do we think they’ll do that on their own?”

“I honestly don’t know.” Shelby says sadly, moving over to Cyd’s bed and sitting down again. “We should go see when they get together.”

“Shelby!”

“We have to know when it is, Cyd! Or before you know it they’re thirty-five in unhappy marriages wondering what might have been!”

Cyd nods for a second and then stops. “Wait, Shelbs - can we even go to somewhere if we don’t know when or if it happens?”

Shelby takes a deep breath, thinking. “I don’t know - but we couldn’t go somewhere that doesn’t exist - we just wouldn’t jump.”

“Or we just won’t exist.”

“That probably won’t happen.”

“Yeah! And anyway, there’s no way they’re _not_ getting together, right?”

“Right! Let’s go.” Shelby holds out her hand for Cyd to hold. Cyd visibly braces herself and grabs on tightly.

In a flash they’re standing closely together, holding hands, eyes squeezed shut in a dark gym with a disco ball and flashing lights illuminating everyone.

“Did we do it?” Shelby asks.

“We’re not stuck in the space-time continuum?”

Shelby squeezes Cyd’s hand and they open their eyes.

“Wait, this can’t be right.” Shelby says, looking around.

“Why? It’s just a dance - a formal dance, I think.”

“It’s winter formal.”

“Oh, good! That’s soon.”

“No, it’s _last year’s_ winter formal.”

“What?” Cyd whips her head around, looking at the dark gym and the mass of couples on the dance floor.

“Yeah, look! Stacy and Brittany are wearing the same dress, remember?”

“And Aaron’s spiking the punch while Cody stands watch.”

“They got suspended for a _month_ for that that.”

“Ooh, this mean we can watch Cindy and Brad break up again!” Cyd’s face lights up at the idea.

Shelby tries not to smile and shakes her head. “No, we have to find Barry and Naldo.”

“ _Fine_.” Cyd joins her best friend in craning her neck to see where everyone is in the gym. “Wasn’t Naldo dancing with Emily basically the whole time until she started making out with Bob?”

“Yeah, and Barry was… ?”

“Letting Nina use him to make Charles jealous.”

“Which worked _really_ well for her - they totally have sex tonight.” Shelby leans in conspiratorially before pointing out toward the dance floor. “There’s Naldo.”

Cyd gasps a little, looking at the opposite side of the gym. “Barry’s getting drinks for Nina and she’s right next to him, already making out with Charles.”

“So, what do we do? Do we _watch_ them? _Follow_ them? I don’t know Cyd, I feel really creepy all of a sudden.”

“Shelby, we have to be sure, we have to keep an eye on them without anybody noticing. Especially Naldo or Barry.”

“Okay.” Shelby takes some deep breaths. “Okay.” They slide closer to where Barry’s now sitting alone at a table farthest from the dance floor. “Wait, didn’t we have dates? Where are they? Shouldn’t we - “

“ _You_ were my date, Shelby.”

“Oh, _right_. Phew - _that_ makes things easier.”

The pair settles into chairs about two tiny tables away from where Barry’s sitting, an eye on both him pretending to drink punch and Naldo prancing dorkily around the dance floor. Cyd’s starting to complain about how hungry she is next to the snack bar when Bob cuts in between Naldo and Emily. “What are they saying? What’s happening?” Cyd practically hisses at Shelby.

“I don’t know! I can’t hear anything over the music.”

Regardless of what was said, they watch Naldo back away from his date Emily and make his way to the punch. Almost on instinct they both hide their faces in their arms as Naldo walks between them, the dance floor, and Barry. They look up again cautiously after a few seconds and see that Naldo is sitting down next to Barry, a cup of punch in his hand.

“Okay,” Shelby says, leaning in conspiratorially toward Cyd again. “Do we go and try to eavesdrop on them or do you think we can ... just … watch.” She trails off watching Naldo stand up and dramatically offer Barry his hand.

Barry takes it, smiling, laughing a little, matching Naldo’s wide smile as they walk hand in hand onto the dance floor.

“Did it happen?” Cyd asks.

“I dunno.”

“Are they together?”

“I dunno.” Shelby answers, still staring after them.

“What are they _doing_?” Cyd asks, still bewildered.

“I dunno.” Shelby pulls Cyd up and drags her onto the dance floor, weaving them around a bunch of other couples to get in farther than Barry and Naldo.

“They’re gonna see us!” Cyd hisses, right on Shelby’s heels.

She turns around and stops abruptly so that they’re face to face. “Why? We’re just dancing.” Shelby takes Cyd’s hands and puts one on her shoulder and the other around her waist before doing the same with her arms. “Can you see them okay?”

“Yeah,” Cyd says, fingers dancing around on Shelby’s back and shoulder. “But they’re just being dorks dancing - it’s not even a slow song.”

The flashing lights change to just the disco ball and a slow romantic song starts. Shelby pulls Cyd closer up against her, focused on watching how Barry and Naldo switch from awkward dancing across from each other, hands loosely linked, to stepping closer.

Both of them are still smiling and laughing as they put their arms around each other experimentally, figuring out where their hands should go. They end up pressed together, arms around each others’ back and shoulders, faces next to each other. Cyd realizes she and Shelby are in exactly the same dancing position as the soon-to-be boyfriends and looks over to Shelby, who’s focused on watching the boys sway together. She lays her head down on Shelby’s shoulder, still watching Barry and Naldo sway in a circle as Shelby traces a hand up and down her back.

“Can you read their lips? What are they saying?” Shelby asks in Cyd’s ear.

“No, I can’t. But they’re probably just talking about how lame this dance is."

Shelby nods, adding, “Yeah, but they’ve stopped smiling.”

“I’ve stopped smiling.”

Shelby takes the hint and rests her head on top of Cyd’s, moving to lightly rub her back with both hands as they sway slowly.

Barry and Naldo continue to sway on the spot, spinning around in slow circles. Naldo turns his head toward Barry, and whatever they say, it makes everything stop. They’re not sway dancing anymore, and neither are Cyd and Shelby, watching Barry and Naldo stare into each other’s eyes, then lean forward into a gentle kiss. It lasts a few seconds before they pull back a little, eyes wide. Naldo smiles first, saying something that makes Barry smile and chuckle before leaning in to kiss him again.

Shelby squeezes Cyd tightly. “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, _they’re kissing_!”

“Yup! Very boyfriendy of them.”

“But why doesn’t anybody see them? What -”

There’s a loud crash on the other side of the gym that makes everyone jump and a few people scream. One of the gift tables is overturned, and a spotlight is inadvertently shining on a girl in a pink dress shocked at the drinks splashed in her face and running down her arms.

“It’s the Brindy breakup!” Cyd squeals, jumping up to see the two teens start to yell at each other.

“My favorite part is when she throws the chair at him.” Shelby says excitedly, peering over people’s heads with Cyd, hanging onto each other for balance.

“Mine too!”

A few seconds go by as they watch the drama unfold, then Shelby remembers. “Wait, where did Barry and Naldo go?”

“Oh geez,” Cyd says as the girls’ excitement deflates. “Are they sneaking off -”

“There they are!” Shelby points toward the gym’s other entrance where Barry’s pulling Naldo along through the doorway.

“Where are they going? We hang out later!” Cyd says as she and Shelby chase after them as best they can through the crowd.

The girls only have to walk through the door before they see them and stop short. Barry and Naldo are talking very fast to the photographer next to the backdrop the Student Council put up - Barry handing him his photo package envelope while Naldo re-hooks two of the lights back where they were. The grizzled, sloppily dressed photographer is stone-faced, not giving a damn in front of Barry’s pleading.

When the girls creep up close enough to hear, Barry’s offering to help him pack up if he’ll make them his last picture.

“I’m not waiting around for a group.” He says dismissively, hand on his bag.

“It’s just us.”

“Yeah, here! We’re standing on the lines, right?” Naldo stands by the backdrop, looking at the floor.

The photographer lets out a drawn out sigh. “Fine. Pick a pose and stay there.”

Barry and Naldo look awkwardly at each other after toeing around the tape on the floor. They start off standing side-by-side, but they keeping moving their arms around, fidgeting, not knowing what to do with them. The grizzled photographer lets out another very audible sigh and the boys’ heads pop up to look at him.

“Right.” Barry says, slipping an arm around Naldo’s waist, resting his hand on Naldo’s opposite hip while still keeping a few inches between them.

Naldo adjusts his arms, looking over to copy Barry, and says, “C’mon, like we like each other.”

Barry laughs and immediately steps closer, which makes Naldo laugh. Their hands fall easily into place and they lock into their pose - “That’s good, we should use that!” Shelby whispers - left hands together on Naldo’s hip, right arms at their sides, and Barry and Naldo just barely pressing against each other, smiles shining like the sun.

A giant flash goes off a few times and Cyd says, “Well, I guess we know why they were missing most of the dance - they were putting away all this junk.”

Shelby’s nodding in agreement, but she’s still riveted by the boys’ smiling faces. “Barry didn’t lie to us,” she says, awe-struck.

“He’s been dating Naldo for almost a year, yes he _has_.”

“No, I mean - when we got our Winter Formal pictures back, he wouldn’t let anybody see his because he said his mom made him get a package, but he and Nina never got pictures. That part’s true!”

“Yeah, but he still _had_ pictures, he just -”

“Said he took them anyway so his mom could get pictures of him in his tux. Technically all of that is true.”

Cyd’s face is all screwed up, frowning deeply at the whole professional photo setup. “Fine, he didn’t lie to us about this, but I’m still not happy they were happy without telling us they were happy for so long.”

“Of course, Cyd. I understand.”

They stare at the romantic setup one more time. “C’mon, let’s go see if that fight’s still going on. Then we can leave.”

 

* * *

 

“I’m just saying, did you have to haggle with Slim for so long? I want to jump to dinner now.”

“Or we could just eat now, Shelbs.”

Shelby stops and huffs in the backyard. “Being logical isn’t helping, Cyd.”

“How is being logical a bad thing?” Barry says, walking out of the winnebago, arms crossed.

“I’m hungry and Cyd’s being logical to be mean to me.”

Barry just gives Shelby a blank look before Cyd steps between them. “Barry doesn’t understand why that’s mean, Shelbs.”

“Well, Naldo should teach him,” Shelby says, pouting, as Cyd pulls her toward the inside of the lab.

“You just used ‘Naldo’ and ‘teach’ in the same sentence, so I’m going to ignore what you just said.” Barry says as he follows them.

“See? Mean!” Cyd says, rounding on him and Shelby.

Shelby just frowns at Barry, considering him for a second. “Y’know, I wasn’t gonna do this - but now I’m gonna!” She looks back at Cyd, psyching herself up. “You lied to us!”

“What?”

“Shelbs, maybe - ”

“You’ve been lying to us for almost a year and that really hurts.”

Barry’s giving them his full attention now, facing them, keeping very still, his face kept intentionally blank even as his eyes get extra round and frantic. “What have I been lying about?”

“You and Naldo.”

“Me and Naldo what?” He asks, eyebrows raised slightly.

“You’re dating. We know you and Naldo are dating.” Cyd answers shortly, already tired of this conversation.

“Who told you me and Ronaldo are dating?”

“We saw it with our own eyes, Barry!” Shelby says, arms crossed.

Barry opens and shuts his mouth, looking between the two girls, and takes a tiny half step back.

Cyd raises a hand calmly. “We’re happy for you guys. We’re just… surprised - we thought we were gonna have to force you two together - but you beat us to it.”

“Okay,” Barry lets out a breath, his shoulders relaxing, but still looks at them warily. “But you can’t tell _anyone_.”

“Okay, your secret’s safe.” Shelby says before turning to Cyd. “I’m still hungry - let’s go get food.” She walks out of the lab, but Cyd doesn’t follow her.

“Well this is awkward.” Barry says after a few seconds.

“Yeah,” Cyd agrees, sitting down at the table. “What’s even more awkward is that me and Shelby were doing basically the same thing you guys were doing, and we didn’t even notice. There was no kiss, and our Winter Formal picture isn’t some kind of reminder about how cute and in love we are.” She stops for a second and looks up at Barry, his face only a little bit confused, and even less shocked. “You actually have that picture, right? It looked really cute - I bet it came out really great.”

Barry actually smiles then. “It did. I’ve got a few copies in some discrete locations - I can get one for you and Shelby if you want.”

“That would be nice. Thanks Barry.” Cyd says, nodding her head before slumping down in her seat again. “This is terrible - you guys had a great kiss moment - but we’re never gonna have one of those!”

Barry’s grinning lights up his whole face. “Anytime, Cyd. I bet Shelby would be okay with you kissing her _anytime_.”

“Really?”

He’s smug now, enjoying himself as he says, “Oh yeah. If you two are anything like me and Ronaldo, there is no bad time. _Any. Time_.”

“Okay,” Cyd smiles a little, standing up.

“Hey guys,” Naldo says, walking into the lab.

“Hey Ronaldo, Cyd and Shelby know about us.”

“Us what, Barry?” Naldo asks calmly, the same tenseness and blank fear on his face as was on Barry’s.

“Just kiss your stupid boyfriend,” Cyd says, rolling her eyes.

Naldo lights up immediately, “Okay. Hi Barry!” He says, going over to him, giving him a quick hello peck on the lips, at which Barry’s smile goes wider.

“Hey Cyd, I thought we were gonna go eat?” Shelby comes back into the winnebago.

Instead of answering, Cyd steps forward and kisses Shelby on the lips. Shelby freezes a second, but before Cyd can move away, her lips respond, kissing her back, a hand coming up to cup Cyd’s cheek. A few seconds later they break apart, faces still centimeters from each other.

“Cyd?”

“Yeah?”

“I _really_ want to kiss you again - but I’m still _really_ hungry.”

Cyd smiles broadly at her. “Okay, let’s go get you some food.” She says before kissing her again quickly.

Turning to go they notice the boys are still there, watching with smiles on their faces. “Congrats on the boyfriend-ship,” Shelby says to Naldo, who nods. “And for the record, I would have told you about this,” she adds in Barry’s direction as she and Cyd link hands.

Cyd tells them, “Well, I guess we’re even.”

Barry chuckles, “Yeah, we’re good."

The girls nod to them, Shelby pulling Cyd along by their linked hands outside, toward food.

Naldo looks quizzically at Barry for a second before he says, “I don’t really want to know.”

Barry grins at him, saying, “Okay.” Then he kisses him briefly before turning to their experiments, hands linked.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally I planned on having this be just Barry/Naldo, but as I wrote Cyd and Shelby together figuring this out, it ended up being REALLY FLUFFY so it was weird to try and end the fic without having Cyd and Shelby ALSO kiss. It was also supposed to be super Barry/Naldo, but the setup made it so you couldn't hear their very sweet and fluffy moments. Oh well. I am planning to write more of some kind because writing for these two OTPs is addictive.


End file.
